Skin blues. :(

Yeah, my skin is dying a slow, red-spotted death.

I thought my skin was improving, but every morning I'm waking up to new breakouts. Luckily I have a great concealing routine down (Revlon Age Defying Moisturizing concealer and MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural, both in Light-Medium), but it still has those terrible bumps in the texture and my flake-prone skin to give their position away. Booo!

But I've never stopped looking at all of that makeup! I've been doing it from my chair (... or bed... or couch...) and one brand I've been interested in for a long time has been Josie Maran. A former model (of Maybelline fame), Josie searched for luxurious, yet eco-friendly cosmetics across the business of makeup and came up empty-handed. So what's a industry-savvy girl to do? Start her own line!

I admit, the first word that drew me in describing her company was Argan oil. I use Moroccan Oil on my hair after every shower, and the effect is incredible. My hair is insanely shiny and a lot more healthy. I find that my demi-permanent color holds longer, too. So anything with the word argan in it draws me in like a moth to a flame, or at least a girl to the cosmetics counter. I believe Olivia Wilde said she used Josie Maran's Finger Paints quads when she was on the cover of Lucky magazine. I really want to see if 100% Argan oil will help out my skin (I wouldn't dream of putting Moroccan Oil on my skin--argan oil is the 6th ingredient on the list of many). The only drawback is the price--but Sephora does offer a small, 0.5oz bottle of her argan oil for $14, which is still hard for me to do because I know a lot of *full-sized* things I could buy with that money. Ah, well!

Till next haul, stay fresh & gorgeous!

Why I'm lacking in posts...

Hello drifters!

I wish I had the ability and the new stuff to be able to blog here everyday, but sadly I cannot. Being without a job, I don't have a lot of money to spend on new makeup goodies.

But I am trying something new. Something with the mindset of Project 10 Pan without the using-up-old-makeup bit. Instead, I have another confession.

I have acne. And I'm a popper.

Gross, I know! I've been on almost every prescription topical treatment known to dermatologist-kind, and I've been on an oral antibiotic for over a year, but I'm still suffering. I know popping is absolutely terrible for my skin, but I just HATE knowing that all that stuff is just below the surface, and that I can get rid of that awful pressure by just...

But no longer. I return to the Project-10-Pan-esque scheme. Instead of poppin', I'm setting goals. If I don't pop for a certain period of time or let ___ number of zits die of natural causes rather than brutal homocide, I'll let myself buy something I've wanted for a long time. Like NARS Laguna, MUFE HD foundation, or Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage. I can heal my skin AND look more fabulous doing it! So far I've gone without popping for 5 days, and I'm feeling better for it. There are many, MANY temptations, but I've been playing the "fill my shopping cart up to a ridiculous amount and then emptying it out" game on both Sephora and MAC websites to distract myself and reaffirm my goal. I'm tired of the scars!

On another note, I've been trying out the Clinique 3-Step sample kit I got on my last Sephora trip/haul. I've wanted to have a more uniform skincare regimen, so I said "what the heck!" because Clinique has such a cult-like following. I have the steps for type #2 (dry-combo skin), and I'm not impressed. I had high hopes for the Clarifying Lotion (which is so misleadingly named--it's a harsh, "am i getting drunk off of skincare fumes??" astringent), but it leaves my normally slightly-sheened T-zone into a BP-oil-spill-zone in a matter of hours. Sheesh! The liquid soap in "mild" is just a more drying version of my normal-to-oily Cetaphil, and the Dramatically Different Lotion is way too heavy (and the sample is 3x the amount I would need). I can't dry out, oil up, and then slap some grease on my face--that's not skincare, that's brutality! I would be willing to try the more tame versions of each of these products, like the extra-mild liquid soap, the CL in step 1, and the DDM-gel, but the versions I have do not make a passing grade.